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Grammy Award winning Folk legend Doc
Watson passed away at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
The blind singer and guitarist passed away at the Wake
Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, after complications from
injuries sustained in a fall at his home in the state's Blue
Ridge Mountains last week.
Watson
was taken to a medical center near his Deep Gap, NC, home last Monday and then
airlifted Wake Forest's intensive care unit on Thursday, where underwent
surgery on his colon.
Despite being in critical condition for days and showing signs of improvement
late last week, Watson
succumbed to his injuries at 7:21pm.
The bluegrass pioneer, born Arthel Lane Watson, is partially credited with
taking the acoustic guitar from its origins as a rhythm instrument to being
more of a lead instrument in bluegrass and country music during the 1950s and
60s. His Flatkiping style also helped change the instrument's role in folk,
blues and gospel music.
The seven-time Grammy winner was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina on March 3, 1923, and lived
there for virtually his entire life.
He formed a successful trio, releasing 15 albums with his son Merle and bassist
T. Michael Coleman; but the venture ended in 1985 when Merle was killed in a
tractor accident.
North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue released a statement on Tuesday; saying,
"Over his long and brilliant career, Doc Watson traveled the world playing
the music he loved, but his heart never strayed far from his home in Deep Gap, North Carolina. His
peerless abilities garnered him countless awards, including North Carolina's highest civilian honor, the
North Carolina Award, in 1986, and the North Carolina Heritage Award in 1994.
"Our state was fortunate to have such a worldwide ambassador of North Carolina's culture
and heritage. He will be missed." Media
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Monday evening, Chris Hayesissued a thoughtful apology that
might not satisfy all of his critics, but is nevertheless sincere and in
character.
He said statement (via email):
"On Sunday, in discussing the uses of the word “hero” to describe those
members of the armed forces who have given their lives, I don’t think I lived
up to the standards of rigor, respect and empathy for those affected by the
issues we discuss that I’ve set for myself. I am deeply sorry for that.
As many have rightly pointed out, it’s very easy for me, a TV host, to opine
about the people who fight our wars, having never dodged a bullet or guarded a
post or walked a mile in their boots. Of course, that is true of the
overwhelming majority of our nation’s citizens as a whole. One of the points
made during Sunday’s show was just how removed most Americans are from the wars
we fight, how small a percentage of our population is asked to shoulder the
entire burden and how easy it becomes to never read the names of those who are
wounded and fight and die, to not ask questions about the direction of our
strategy in Afghanistan, and to assuage our own collective guilt about this
disconnect with a pro-forma ritual that we observe briefly before returning to
our barbecues.
But in seeking to discuss the civilian-military divide and the social
distance between those who fight and those who don’t, I ended up reinforcing
it, conforming to a stereotype of a removed pundit whose views are not anchored
in the very real and very wrenching experience of this long decade of war. And
for that I am truly sorry."
Dario Franchittiheld off Japanese competitor
Takuma Sato on Sunday to claim his third Indianapolis
500 victory after Sato attempted to make a last minute costly move that sent
him veering into a wall.
The 39-year-old Franchitti won
the Indy 500 in 2007 and again in 2010, this time beating his Target Ganassi
teammate Scott Dixon under caution.
The caution was one of only eight for 39 of the races 200 laps.
Finishing in third-place was Tony Kanaan
who has attempted to take 1st place in the race 11 times.
During the race a record 35 lead changes were finished. Race fans during the
Indy 500 were treated to
redesigned cars that were named after Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indy
500 champion who was killed in an accident in Las Vegas last October.
Talking about the conclusion of the race Franchitti spoke about Wheldon’s
likely reaction to the finish:
“I think D-Dub would have been proud of that one.”
Franchitti averaged 167.734 miles an hour. Dario Franchitti became only the
10th driver to win at least three Indy 500s and all three of those victories
have come under caution.
Franchitti, apparently adjusting to the new car design struggled through the
first four races of the season before finally matching Sebastien Bourdais and Paul
Tracy on the all-time wins list.
In the meantime racers competed not only against one another but also
against mother nature as temperatures reached 91-degrees, just one degree
cooler than the races 1937 record of 92 degrees. Media Social Gossip
Detroit Lions suspicious tackle Nick Fairley
was arrested early this morning for driving under the influence and attempting
to elude police ... TMZ has learned.
Fairley was popped in Mobile,
AL just after 1:00 AM. In
addition to the DUI and eluding charges, Fairley was ticketed for irresponsible
driving, no proof of insurance and having an open container.
Fairley is from the area, having gone to WilliamsonHigh School and he attended AuburnUniversity.
It's Fairley second bust in just over a month -- he was arrested on April 3 for
marijuana possession.
Media Social Gossip, By RUSS BYNUM, The Associated Press
Subtropical storm Beryl crept Sunday toward the
Southeast U.S. coastline,
threatening to churn up dangerous surf and drenching rains for a soggy close to
the long Memorial Day weekend along beaches from northeast Florida
to South Carolina.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina,
according to the NationalHurricaneCenter.
Forecasters at the center in Miami
said the cluster of thunderstorms was predictable to make landfall sometime
Sunday night or Monday in the region. Berylwas technically
considered a "subtropical storm," but
the system of thunderstorms was predictable to bring winds and rain to the area
in spite of of its official classification.
At 2 a.m. EDT Sunday, Beryl was centered about 185
miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Charleston,
S.C. The hurricane center said
the system had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was moving toward
the west-southwest at 7 mph (11 kph) and also was about 230 miles (370 km) east
of Jacksonville, Fla.
Tropical storm conditions - meaning maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72
kph) - were probable to reach the coast later Sunday. Three to six inches of
rain were forecast for the area. Some coastal flooding also was in the
forecast, as the rain could cause high tides.
Dangerous surf conditions are possible from northeast Florida
to North Carolina
over the holiday weekend, forecasters said.
The southeastern coast is popular with tourists who visit the beaches and
wilderness areas.
"A three-day thunderstorm is what it's probably going to be," said
Jay Wiggins, emergency management director for GlynnCounty, which is about 60 miles south
of Savannah and includes Brunswick
and St.SimonsIsland in Georgia. "Unfortunately, it's
going to ruin a lot of Memorial Day plans."
Wiggins said he expects some flooded roadways and scattered power outages,
perhaps some minor flooding in waterfront homes, but otherwise little damage.
However, he urged beachgoers to beware of dangerous rip currents.
On TybeeIsland,
home to Georgia's largest
public beach east of Savannah,
employees at Amy Gaster's home and condo rental business were making sure
arriving guests were aware of the approaching storm during the weekend. Gaster
said her 180 rentals were sold out and nobody was canceling plans or asking to
check out early.
While Georgia
hasn't taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in 114 years, the last time a
tropical storm made landfall here was in August 1988. Tropical Storm Chris hit
near Savannah but did little damage as it pushed
northward into South Carolina.
In South Carolina, Beaufort County
Emergency Management deputy director David Zeoli (zee-oli) said Saturday that
word went out to first-responders along the coast near the Georgia line to pay attention to
the storm's progress. Media Social Gossip
Media Social gossip Associated News INDIANAPOLIS — How hot was it at Sunday's Indianapolis 500? Depends
on whom you ask.
Track officials announced just before 2:30 p.m. that the temperature had hit
93 degrees, which would set a record as the hottest 500 in history. The
previous record was 92 degrees in 1937.
But the National Weather Service in Indianapolis
scheduled the official heat at 90, and The Weather Channel had the mercury at a
balmy 89 degrees.
Official highs and lows for Indianapolis
are recorded at Indianapolis
International Airport. Weather Service meteorologist Marc Dahmer (Day'-mer)
says the temperature at the speedway likely was higher because of the amount of
pavement, the heat generated by the cars and the number of people gathered in
such a small area. Media Social Gossip
The calls for Dan
Hardy to change up his fighting style have been so loud and sustained,
they've been not possible to ignore. He's heard them, too, certainly mulling
them over in his mind, night after night while envisioning his last four fights
under the Ultimate Fighting
Championship (UFC) banner, all losses.
He went about making a few changes by moving to Las Vegas, Nevada,
and getting more firmly well-established with a solid training camp in advance
of his UFC
146 showdown against Duane Ludwig
on May 26, 2012. That included working more with Frank Mir, who
would be challenging Junior dos Santos
for the heavyweight championship on the same card.
But come fight time, Hardy didn't really look any different. He was still in
perfectly in tune with Bruce Buffer while the veteran Octagon announcer
introduced him to thousands of affectionate fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
And, most importantly, he was still standing with his head held high, ready
to let those British hands fly.
That's what he did once the referee prompted him to at the start of the
contest. Ludwig, his opponent, was eager and willing to exchange with him,
showing a varied offense that staggered "The Outlaw" early.
But whereas Hardy may have folded in times past, he decided to grit his
teeth, bear down and keep on pushing. Not long after, standing as the crow
flies across from his opponent, he unleashed a looping left hook, that same
looping left hook so many pundits blasted him for using far too often.
The fight wasn't over. Not yet, anyway. But the follow up punches were
academic. Hardy was victorious for the first time in nearly three full years.
Not only that, he had justified UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta's decision to
keep him on the roster despite his impressive run of futility.
Maybe he didn't win the welterweight championship, maybe he wasn't in the
main event, maybe he wasn't even on the main card; but he was a winner.
Finally, after all the blood, sweat, and tears, Dan Hardy was a winner once
more. Media Social Gossip
